THE GREAT INDIAN CIRCUS
The smiles were in place, and the beaming leaders did put up a wonderful show a few days back. The loud banter and visual display of friendship that accompanied the signing of the poll pact- albeit belatedly after much bickering- between the DMK and its offshoot, the MDMK, would have overwhelmed even the boom of guns in Kargil, if they were booming at that time.
The black towel sported by the protege and its yellow counterpart adorning the rational shoulders of the mentor, too blended in colourful celebration of the event, as the leaders hugged, shook hands and did such other things that these occasions normally demand. We are not sure if their faces retained the smiles or whether the zest continued even after the cameras were switched off and no prizes for guessing.
How can they fight? Silly of you and me, spoil sports, to imagine that the prodigal Vaiko would ever think of staging another break with the self-appointed sole guardian of all Tamils of the universe. After all they are udan pirappugal–co-borns–, that too hailing from the great Dravidian tradition that is the wholesale custodian of everything that is rational and respectable.
And above all don’t they have a common agenda of making Atal annan the Prime Minister of India again and incidentally ensure plumb portfolios for restless nephews and such other co-borns? The holy cause deserved any sacrifice and warranted sheathing of every dagger that was drawn and true to the ageold Dravidian dictum of forgive and forget, the hatchets have been buried.
Another storm too has subsided, thanks to the good offices of the CM, who after sowing the seeds of discord between PMK and TRC in the first place, also condescended to sort out things between the warring groups. This act of throwing up a dove and then shooting it down is a typical display of the cunning of the palmgrove fox that our very rational CM prides himself to be.
But it would ever remain a mystery where the same rationality had gone to graze, when he handed out a largesse of nine seats to the PMK which took everyone by surprise.
The wily PMK leader, obviously, has emerged as a very tough negotiator with little or no regard either for ground realities or for the harmony of his front. He must have his way and he has always had it which is a very disturbing trend because he has no scruples. The man just changes partners like a habitual philanderer with impunity and without qualms.
He was as much convinced about the virtues of the AIADMK last time around as he is about the DMK’s currently. And one can say with certainty that the two major Dravidian parties are not going to be the last of the flings of this political Cassanova.
In another decade he would have been a bedfellow to scores of other outfits, both national and regional and rest assured, he and his party, which are synonymous, would have grown by leaps and bounds. Having built up a crowd and clout based on caste, the eternal bargainer’s perennial blackmail has come to stay unless some political party or leader gathers the courage to call his bluff which is what his tall claims are.
Ramadoss is indeed a pioneer of such political profligacy and he has national peers too. The double-speak duo of Kanshi and Mayawati feel that hung Parliaments are the best things that can happen, for only then will they have an array of suitors to choose from. Their aim once again is to get the best deal out of the confusion and they too have grown in clout over the years.
Nearer home, there is this dubious champion of the Dalit cause whose honeymoon with the TMC has already ended in an abortion.
The respectable Moopanar and the very eloquent Chidambaram should have known better before treading on a rattle snake but alas, all wisdom deserted them at the first sight of a sizeable vote bank.
Chidambaram even defended his party’s new-found love for the PT by drawing a parallel with the PMK and theorising on how the latter, which was once considered untouchable is now being wooed by all and sundry. How right the articulate advocate has been in his profound polemics!
But alas, how miserably has the former Finance Minister goofed up his calculations by failing to follow up on his discovery and not nipping the PT weed in the bud! If the PT was the PMK’s successor, did it not occur to the TMC that it needs to put a safe distance with that outfit? Now with the notorious Doctor baring his fangs, the ‘Hope of TN’ finds itself in a hopeless mess and the votebank itself is now a distant mirage.
The AIADMK front too has its share of contradictions. No one was deceived when Jayalalitha patched up with Sonia, for the former’s words of wisdom on the latter’s foreign origins are etched in the political culverts for posterity. But the two ladies, driven by a shared loathing for the BJP, have signed a pact of selective amnesia by which they would temporarily forget the past and have decided to revive the grand old ‘natural’ alliance for mutual benefit.
This friendship once again is skin deep which can be gleaned from the fact that the Indian lady is yet to even make a mention of her very italian partner in her campaign which has already reached a feverish pitch. The TN Congressmen do not seem to mind-not that their views are important-and are happy to be just introduced to the crowd by the AIADMK leader, no matter if they are yet to be announced as candidates by their High Command. If the High Command’s Higher Command says so, then that is it.
It is the sign of the times. Friends inside a Front are more despised than even enemies. Current allies are prospective foes and are handled with caution and care. All the politicians in all fronts are in the grip of paranoia and uncertainty, not about what the opponent has in store for them but on what the ally seated beside them has up his sleeve.
Yet they all put up a grand facade despite indulging in acrimonious bickering just a few hours before. They hold up each other’s arms aloft as a symbol of solidarity within minutes of calling one another names. For them it is the perfectly natural thing to do for they are politicians. But for us irrational beings all these ongoing drama seem ugly and repulsive.
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